Third India-Africa forum summit begins in New Delhi

The third India-Africa forum summit (IAFS) began in New Delhi on 26 October 2015.
The four day summit (from 26 October to 30 October 2015) is one of the largest gatherings of African countries outside Africa as all 54 nations of the continent have participated.
Key facts

• It will address the key challenges faced by African nations which include food, health and environmental security etc.
• Provides India an opportunity to forge a constructive and deeper alliance with the resource-rich continent.
• India hopes to create favourable conditions through this summit to stimulate trade and investment flows between India and African countries.
• Both sides are expecting to reinforce their partnership on the global platform and deepen security cooperation including on countering terrorism and maritime security.
• The summit is considered as Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA Government’s biggest diplomatic outreach involving delegates from all African nations.

Logo of Third IAFS

• It depicts a Lion with one half of an Indian lion and another half of African lion.
• In the background of logo, an African map is overlapped with Indian map as a reference to ancient Gondwanaland depicting Indian subcontinent was part of today’s Africa’s continental landmass.
• Officially the logo means “Proud, Courageous, Bold and on the Prowl, ready to take on the future and seize every opportunity“.

About India–Africa Forum Summit

• IAFS is an official platform for the African-Indian relations. It is held every 3 years and the venue is selected on rotational basis from both sides.
• Agenda of the summit: It covers various fields including agricultural sector, trade, industry and investment, peace and security, promotion of good governance and civil society, information and communication technology (ICT) etc.
• First Summit: It was held in 2008 in New Delhi and was represented by 14 countries of Africa chosen by the African Union.
• Second Summit: It was held at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and 15 African countries had participated in it.
• Third Summit: Present summit was earlier scheduled in December 2014 in New Delhi, but it was postponed to October 2015 due to deadly Ebola outbreak in few western African countries.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2015